Back to the Now
by Ahnalaura Night
Summary: When an old friend unexpectedly appears in the attic, Chris finds himself faced with an anonymous force that's always one step ahead of him. As if things weren't mixed up enough, He's got competition in the girl department. Sequel to "My World." Many OCs!
1. Chapter 1

** ZOMIGOSH HAI GUYS! It's been a long long time since I've written on here! And I'm still getting favorites on "My World!" Yay! But sadly, reviews have ceased. Anyway, remember the idea for my sequel? Well, this is it! I have no idea where I'm going with it, but I got an idea for the start, so let's just roll with it and see where it takes us! **

** Okay, so the idea of the beginning is that this takes place during "Hyde School Reunion." The episode where we find out what happens to Piper (kinda). So i may be re-using an entry from "My World." Anyway, you guys just needed to know the episode for the timing :D **

** Last thing. You guys know my system, but let me refresh your memory anyway. Bold font (like this) is my interruptions in the story, but I promise to mostly keep those at the beginning and the end. **_Italic_**is thoughts (no matter who the character is) and ****Underline**** font is flashbacks/memories. This doesn't apply to direct quotes from the episode thought, mmkay! Now let's begin, shall we? As always, I don't own Charmed! Don't sue me! :P Enjoy!**

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><p>Piper: <em>You okay?<em>

Victor: _Who says I'm okay?_

Chris: _Don't worry. You'll get used to orbing in the future._

Piper: _I thought something might have happened to you!_

Chris: _No! We're fine. We just...talked._

**And so it begins! Right now I've got it in Chris's point of view, but I doubt it will stay that way, just so you know.**

I knew Piper was about to ask me what Grandpa and I had been talking about. Turns out, I didn't have to think of an evasive answer.

She never got the chance.

I jumped as a bright blue flash lit up the attic wall. As two yelling figures came flying out of it, I grabbed Piper and went across the room, grabbing heavy objects and poising to throw them at the strangers in the attic. Page already had Victor behind her, much to his displeasure. "Who are you?" I shouted at the two people lying facedown on the floor. "Why are you here?"

The two dazed people stood up, shaking their heads and looking around. With a shock, I recognized one of them. Brown eyes had to look up at me as the shorter of the two shot me a smug smile. "Hiya, Chris!"

My heart stopped. _No. Way._ I took in the person before me. It was clear she was a woman of strength in everything she did. The way she stood, poised in a fighting stance while appearing relaxed and casual, the obvious muscles that made sharp angles in her bare calves and arms while doing nothing to take away from her curvy femininity. Her skin was tanned, a lot darker than I remembered, and it was clear that she was of Spanish heritage. Her hair was different, too. It was a short red and black pixie cut before. Now it was in a pony tail that reached the tops of her shoulders, and she had dyed it a deep blue-black. The first time I had seen her, however, I had only vaguely noticed any of her features other than the scar slashing across her face-beginning at her left temple, across the bridge of her nose, and stopping at her right cheekbone.

Madre de Dios. "Sky?" I had meant to ask her calmly, but my voice came out a breathless whisper.

Her smile widened, and her voice was just as soft as mine. "Hey, you."

The room went dark, except around her, and if anyone made any sound, it didn't register to my brain. "You're... Here."

She tilted her head slightly. "Yeah. I am." Our eyes met, and I nearly got lost in her gaze.

Piper snapped us out of it. "Excuse me! You two know each other? Who is this?"

Sky looked hurt. "You... Don't remember?"

Mom's expression turned confused. "Remember?"

Her face softened. "No, I guess not, huh? Of course." She turned to me. "So the spell worked fine?"

Paige turned to me. "Spell?"

I shook my head. "Uh, Mom, this is Sky. She's a...friend. From the future." Sky quirked an eyebrow at the word "friend."

"And the guy?" Paige asked.

Guy? I turned to the other person, who stepped closer and laid an arm around Sky's shoulders. His hair was a mess of reddish-brown curls on his head. His hazel eyes were fiery, and they flicked between me and Sky. She gave him a reassuring smile, and his face practically lit up, though it was clear she didn't notice. He was tall and pale, and he was also shirtless. I realized Sky's flat stomach was exposed and the cloth wrapped around the guys abdomen as makeshift bandages matched the blue material of her torn shirt.

He looked down at himself. "Sorry about my appearance. We had a run-in with some hostile demons on the way here. The one with the claws decided it didn't like my outfit." He shot Sky an amused smile and then looked at me and Mom. "The name is Terrance, but I prefer Trace, if you don't mind."

I looked between him and Sky, and I noted her comfortably leaning against his chest, careful to avoid the red spot on the "bandages."

I didn't like him. "Trace?"

"You must be Chris." He extended a hand to me. "Nice to meet you." I shook it. His grip was firm, but not in a challenging way.

"So, not to sound unwelcoming, but _why_ are you here?" Sky's smile faded, and Trace pulled her closer to him. I refrained from narrowing my eyes and sending a glare his way.

She frowned at me. "You mean... You don't know?"

"Know what?"

She traded a look with Trace, and simultaneously their eyes widened and they immediately tensed. "You..." She drifted. "You didn't ask us to come here, did you?"

My face probably looked like a question mark. "I haven't talked to you since-" I glanced at my mother. "Since I left the future."

"Well crap" Trace sighed.

"What's going on?" Mom said, sounding annoyed. Sky reached into her shirt-which was an interesting sight to see-and pulled out a piece of paper. I glanced at it, and was surprised to see my handwriting.

_Sky,_

_I know you won't believe I'm writing this, so answer me this. What did one halfling say to the other? Friend or foe? I need your help. Please come. Soon._

_ Chris_

I blinked. "You thought this was from me?"

She looked between me and Trace. "Only two people know about my parents," she whispered. "And Trace was with me when I found it in the floorboard."

Ah. I would never forget the night Sky told me she was the daughter of a Siren. Her voice still haunted me in my dreams. That explained the halfling part.

I smiled as I remembered the first thing Sky had ever said to me. She had been in the middle of kicking some serious demon ass when I showed up with the Pertinacia, the future Resistance, to help her out. She'd held a knife to my throat and asked me if I was a friend or a foe.

"Let me get this straight," Trace interrupted my train of thought. "You didn't send this to us?"

"No."

He looked at Sky. "So whoever did wanted us in the past, and they wanted us to find Chris."

She grimaced. "Looks like it."

"So the question is," I added, "who wants us here together?"

"More importantly," Trace breathed, "Why?"

Skylar crumpled the note in her hand and looked up at the two of us with fiery eyes. "That's what we're going to find out."

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><p><strong>Dun dun dun! I sorry it's so short you guys! I've been DYING to post something, but I hardly ever get the time to write! Stupid school. Don't worry though. I've finally got some creative juices flowing. Expect the next update soonish! I'm still not entirely sure where I'm going with this story, but hey, it worked out last time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite how short it was. REVIEW! I can't fix things if no one tells me I'm doing something wrong. Even if you think it's perfect, I am open to any and all suggestions! So REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Pretty please with a fluffy panda on top?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

** Hello, hello, hello! I'm back! Did you miss me? Sorry for the long wait. What can I say? Life happens. So, I got some sparks of inspiration lighting up my mind, so I thought I'd write them up and see what happens!**

** PLEEEEEEASE review. I haven't gotten any, and it's really quite depressing.**

** So, without further ado (how the heck is that expression supposed to be written? O.O) I give you... Chapter 2! Enjoy!**

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><p>"Aaaaaaah!"<p>

"Piper will you please just-"  
>"I want that thing OUT OF MY HOUSE!"<p>

"Someone hand me the-"

"I'm not a demon, I swear!"

I sighed and ducked as bits of broken furniture flew around the attic. Piper and Trace had started an exploding contest. The whole house was in chaos.

"YO!" Sky screamed. It was ignored. Rolling her eyes, she lifted her hand toward the ceiling. Suddenly a blinding flash lit the room, immediately followed by a huge roaring crash that shook the whole house and made my ears pop.

When I could see again Sky was still standing with her hand raised and a patient expression on her face. She lowered her hand only when everyone quieted down and removed their hands form over their ears. Trace had a ghost of a smile on his face, Piper and Piage looked extremely pale, and Grandpa was shaking.

"Now that I have your attention," Sky stated calmly, "can we all talk about this like adults before someone gets hurt?"

"D-... Did you do that?" Paige's voice was trembling.

She smiled straight at me. It was more blinding than the lightning she had conjured. "I'm getting better with my powers. Pr-" I shot her a look and she cut herself off. "My trainer has been teaching me how to filter my emotions with my abilities."

I could sense her excitement. No, I mean it. Literally. Do you have any idea how hard it is hiding the fact that you're an empath from the Charmed Ones? I'm just glad Mom and Paige took a potion a while back to block them from empaths. Phoebe alone is hard enough to deal with on a daily basis.

I narrowed my eyes as I sensed another emotion. Trace. He was filled with overwhelming pride and adoration. And he was beaming at Sky.

Mom interrupted my train of thought as she recovered before everyone else in the room. "Fine. You want to talk? Let's talk. What is a _demon_ doing in my house?"

"I'm not a demon," Trace exclaimed.

"Only demons have been immune to Piper's exploding power," Paige said suspiciously, her lips pursed.

"I'm not a demon!"

"Then why did you blow up my chandelier?!" Mom was trying to step closer confrontationally, but there was a lot of broken glass between her and the sheepish man.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you would be here. How was I supposed to know if I sneezed it was gonna blow up?"

"Everyone pause!" Grandpa stepped in the center of us. "Let me get this straight. You sneeze, and the chandelier explodes, and then Piper tries to blow you up, and instead the scrying table is blown up. And you expect us all to believe you're not a demon?"

Sky chuckled under her breath. I realized suddenly that I had never heard her laugh before. No laugh, no chuckle, not even a humorous snort. The sound was light and thrilling and promising. I shook my head, trying to shake off the distraction.

Trace lightly punched her in the arm. "It's not funny!" He turned to Mom solemnly. "Please let me explain."

Mom crossed her arms and waited. He took a deep breath. "Well you see, I was born with this power. It didn't manifest until I was about sixteen. Around then, I was already aware that my family descended from witches on my dad's side, though I had never met another witch." He looked at Sky wryly. "Or so I thought." She grinned at him. "Anyway, I was walking home really late one night, and ran into this warlock that sensed my power. He had the ability to throw energy balls. He also had the ability to blink. When he conjured the energy ball and poised to throw it at me, I got so scared I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them again, I was home. No warlock, no energy ball. I convinced myself I had imagined the whole thing.

"That is, until a couple weeks later. I got expelled from school for damaging my gym locker. They thought I threw lit fireworks in it. But I got really angry and turned to punch it. Instead my hand threw an energy ball at it.

"And that's when I discovered I was a sponge. Er- What did you say it's called Sky?"

"Empathic mimicry," she answered. "It means he has the ability to copy and use the powers of people like him."

"I have all sorts of powers, now. About two years ago I came across a nine-year-old girl with a mirroring power. No offensive magic could be used on her. It just bounced off and hit the nearest target near her. I can't control my power sponging, so I got that too."

"Which explains why Mom couldn't blow you up," I said, getting it.

He nodded. "By the way, um... I can pay for that to be fixed. This happens a lot when I meet new witches. I'm sorry."

_Does that mean he knows I'm an empath? Then why did my empathy work on him?_

Mom sighed and uncrossed her arms. "You don't have to pay for it. But you _do_ have to clean it up." He nodded.

"Wait," Paige said, lips still pursed. "If you soak up powers, how do we know you won't kill us all with that lightning she-" she tilted her head at Sky "-pulled out of the air."

They exchanged looks, and Trace put his arm on her shoulder. "She's the exception."

"Eh?" Mom and Paige asked together.

Sky elaborated. "He can't access my power. No one can."

"How?" I asked, remembering how I had done just that the last time I was in the future.

She smiled at me. "There was an incident about six months ago where someone fried almost everyone in the room with my power. Almost killed himself, too. The idiot." She chuckled, and I refrained from jumping to defend myself in front of Mom and Paige. "After that, I took some precautions to make sure it couldn't happen again."

"Precautions?" Grandpa asked.

In response she hooked her thumb in the waistband of her camo cargo-capri pants at her right hip and pulled it down to the very bottom of her hip bone. That was even more interesting to watch than when she reached into her blue T-shirt to pull out the note.

There, on the bare flesh of her hip, was a simple tattoo of what looked like the triquetra at first glance. Upon closer inspection-not literally, though. I'm pretty sure she would have slapped me if I tried-I realized that it had four half circles instead of three. And unlike the triquetra that was bound inside a large circle, the four points connected in a tiny diamond at the center of a small circle in the center of the knot. **(If you guys want to see a picture of the symbol and see what it means, there is a link on my profile!) **

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a Witches' Knot. It's a symbol of protection. The circle is the energy being protected by the four half circles. Their job is to reflect energy by trapping it in the continuous pattern so that it can never reach its target. Trace's power can never affect mine. It can't touch it."

"All that from a symbol?" Paige asked.

She smiled. "No. It's enchanted. I've got a friend with the ability to transfer power into ink. She used a different ink for each point, though you can't tell. One has a mirroring power, one a sort of repelling power, a hiding power, and one a guarding power. Like a magical forcefield. No matter how they do it, anyone trying to access my magic is in for a shock."

"I didn't notice it was blue and white before," Trace said, leaning just slightly to look closer. I'm not sure why I was annoyed by that. When he said it, I relaized the colors were highly unusual. The two half circles on the top and bottom of the center circle were done in pure white ink that glistened in the light as Sky's hips moved. The center circle was also white. The insides of those points were filled in with blue ink the color of the sky. For the other two points on the right and left, it was the opposite. The lines were sky blue and filled in with the bright white.

"I didn't know they made white ink," I murmered absently.

She smirked. "Not sure if the manufacturers do or not, but I know magic does." I looked up into her eyes then. They were twinkling with amused mischief. I could have drowned in those warm brown eyes. Suddenly the engagement ring I kept in my jeans pocket seemed to turn so hot it was like it was searing it's shape into my skin.

Trace's voice snapped me out of the moment. I didn't know whether to be grateful or backhand him. "Why white and blue?"

She shrugged. "White is a powerful color commonly used for protection because it is considered the color of purity. Seemed like a good idea."

"And the blue?" I asked

"Blue is her favorite color," Trace answered at the exact same time Sky did. They laughed. "Symbols have a more solid foundation if the person using them has a personal connection to it," he added.

"I know. I use them too." I tried not to grit my teeth.

Much to my disappointment, Sky pulled her pants back up and once again hid the intricate tattoo. She turned to the two sisters. "Satisfied?"

Mom and Paige exchanged a look before Mom answered, "Alright, but keep him in check. And you're not leaving until it's clean!"

"Piper," Paige said soothingly, "why don't we get you to your room so you can relax some, huh?"

"Okay." Mom sounded tired as Paige and Grandpa guided her out of the attic. I felt guilty. It was bad enough that Mini Me was inside her making her feel like crap. She didn't need future me making problems for her, too.

Sky's face turned thoughtful, as if she was forgetting something. Then she turned to Trace with a smile. "By the way, bless you."

He blinked and stared at her for a moment, then turned to clean up the mess he had made, shaking his head. She stuck her tongue out at his back and rolled her eyes, turning to me. I wanted to go to her, but it would have been weird with someone else around, and we had more pressing matters to deal with. I switched to my usual manner: all business.

"So, any idea who could have sent it?" I asked her. Her expression turned serious.

"It can't be Wyatt. It's not even remotely close to his handwriting. Or his forgery writing."

I winced. Sky had had a thing with my brother a few years back. She had yet to tell me any details, but judging from the way they had acted toward each other, there was still a lot of passion between them. Granted, now it was passionate _hatred_, but still. I wasn't exactly very comfortable thinking about it, so I tried to do so as little as possible.

"It's my handwriting. I don't know how anyone outside the Pertinacia would know how it looks."

"Could it be... Someone on the inside?" Her voice was grim.

"A traitor? No way. I know almost everyone in the resistance personally. Even new recruits, they've never had a reason to want to help him."

"We've gotten quite a few new recruits in the last few months. We've rescued over a hundred witches."

I blinked. "Um. What?"

Her face once again lit up the entire world with her smile. "Well, Prue's put me in charge of all rescue missions. I pick the teams, but she requires that I go on every single one of them. My days get long, but it's worth it to save lives. Between Henry, Annabeth, Melinda, Trace and me, no demon horde can stand in our way."

"That's... Wow. That's really great. I can't believe..." I'm not ashamed to admit that I got pretty choked up. I didn't start crying or anything, but thinking that maybe the future was helping itself until I got back... It was more than I could ever have hoped for when leaving my family behind.

"Chris? Are you okay?" I picked her up in a massive bear hug and embraced her as tightly as I dared.

"Thank you so much. I'm so glad you're there for my family when I can't be. I can't imagine anyone I would rather leave them with."

She was tense at first, her arms locked at her sides, and her back stiff. But after a few moments, she sighed and returned the hug. Her body relaxed, but I could feel her heart racing, and her emotions.

She had been scared when I reached for her. It didn't last longer than a few seconds, but I felt her terror well up inside her. She fought to quell it down, and then after I spoke it was washed away by relief. Relief and... Something. I didn't really recognize that emotion. Must be one I've never felt.

I put her down. "Sky?" I whispered. "Why were you afraid?"

Her eyes widened and she took a step back from me. Her face flushed and she stammered.

"I- I um... Uh-" I didn't realize until then that Trace had been standing a few feet away from us the whole time, watching. When Sky stepped back, he went to her and put his hands on her shoulders, but she stepped away. "I'm okay. I'm fine. Finish cleaning up."

With a frown on his face he resumed picking up the glass pieces and throwing them in a garbage bag. "Hey man," I said, "there's a little broom and a dustpan in the kitchen downstairs."

He stood up and faced me. After hesistating for a second, he nodded. "Thanks. I'll be right back."

She waited until he left, then turned to me. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"What was that?"

"I just... I've got issues, Chris. My childhood wasn't exactly normal, and I've just got some habits that I haven't quite broken yet. I'm working on it."

"You don't need to apologize. _I'm _sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No," She cut me off firmly. "No. Never apologize for caring. You were being kind. You did nothing wrong, okay?

I nodded. She stepped forward and hugged me this time. I held her for a second, confused and worried and embarrassed.

_We're getting off track,_ I thought. Back to business.

I stepped away from her and put my stoic mask on. Trace returned right around then, dustpan and broom in his hands.

"Even still, none of the new recruits would know it. Prue burned all my instructions left behind, and if there is any necessity for writing-which their hardly ever is-it would be handled by her."

She nodded, frowning. "Good point. Who else could it be?"

At that moment, something orbed into the room between us and dropped to the ground. Immediately Trace's hands were on fire, Sky had a knife in one hand and sparks flying off the other. I stood tense as we all stared at the paper on the floor.

"Should I fry it?" Sky asked me.

I frowned and waved y hand over it. "If there were any curses over it they should be dispelled." I reached down and picked it up.

"Chris!" I waited. No electricity No plague, or excruciating pain.

"I think we're good" I stood up and opened it. I ws surprised to once again find my handwriting spread across the page.

_ Good, you're together. Now, I need to see you to tell you the rest of what's going on. I'm in danger, and we don't have much time. Chris, I know you still have the ring. Meet me where you first gave it to her._

I felt my eyes get so wide I thought they were going to pop out.

Sky had been reading over my shoulder, with Trace pressing his face to hers to read as well. "Chris," she whispered, "what does this mean?"

"I-"

Suddenly writing began appearing on the page beneath the first message. Sky hissed behind me.

_Oh, and trust me, you do NOT want to tell the sisters what's going on. They don't have what it takes to handle this yet._

"So this dude wants us to just show up at Goddess knows where to talk about who knows what without the sisters," Sky seethed.

"Sounds legit," Trace said sarcastically.

I didn't say anything. I know you still have the ring. Meet me where you first gave it to her... No way. He couldn't mean...

"I'm going."

Their heads snapped toward me. "Are you suicidal or just stupid?" she snapped

"I know where the place is. _No one _should know about that place. Not in this time, or the future for that matter. Besides, you two are stuck here. Clearly there's a reason for all of this. I'm gonna find out what it is."

Sky glared at me for what seemed like forever. But as hard as it was, I met her eyes defiantly the entire time. After an eternity, she sighed and nodded. "Then I'm going with you."

I immediately objected. "It's too dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt!"

She snorted. "Please. I was raised by demons. I can handle whatever this dudebro thinks he's got."

Trace moved closer to Sky. "I'm with her, so it looks like you've got me, too."

I watched them, trying not glare at Trace. "I have no idea what I'm walking into. You sure it's worth the risk?"

She took my hand. "You're worth everything," she whispered. "Besides," she said more loudly. "We got the first note. We're as much apart of this as you are."

"Whatever _this _is." Trace said grimly. I sensed his eyes on my hand, so I squeezed Sky's hand even tighter.

"Then let's go."

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><p><strong>Oh snap! What do you guys think it is, hmmm? I have no idea yet! Still just letting the story guide me hehe. What do you think so far? Love it? Hate it? PLLLLLEEEEEAAAASE REVIEW It'll make me update faster! Thanks for reading! Until next time, my lovelies.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, readers! Welcome back! Before we resume the story, I just want to take the time to thank a special reader named zaja for giving this story it's first review! YOU ROCK, MAN! :D I also want to point out a couple things I neglected to in the first two chapters. First, this is the sequel to my story "My World." If you haven't read that one yet, don't read this one! Also, for the last chapter, I mentioned a tattoo Sky has. The links to learn about the symbol and see what the tattoo looks like are now posted on my profile, so go look them up if you wish. Also, I do not owned Charmed! Now, where was I...? Oh yes, I left off with Trace, Sky, and Chris in the attic. Another mysterious note in Chris's handwriting has appeared and they want to meet our gang at a mysterious location. Did any of you guess it? Well, we're about to find out! Please review guys, it really means a lot to me. So now let's get on with the story! Enjoy!**

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><p>I had orbed the three of us down the street from where I believed the location was. "Chris, where are we?"<br>I didn't answer. As soon as our destination was in sight, I froze. I could barely stand to look at it.

A bench sat in the middle of a grassy lawn. There were flowers all around, and stone pillars made a wide semi-circle around the bench.

It was the place I proposed to Bianca in the future. It was also the place where she came back to drain me of my powers and take me back to the future. It looked a little different then, but it was still our place all the same.

"Bianca..." I whispered hoarsely.

I felt Sky's curiosity spike. She had heard me. I chose to ignore it. So did she.

"Trace," she murmered quietly. "Double mirror. Radar. Check in 5."

"Got it."

I turned and looked at her in confusion. "Um. What?"

She smirked. "It's our code. We came up with it a while back. It means go invisible, check the area for people, and get back to me in five minutes."

"He can go invisible?"

She nodded. "Is this the code everyone uses?"

She shook her head. "Just us."

We crouched in the bushes as we waited for Trace to return. I could see the bench across the street. "So..."

"So?" She echoed questioningly.

"Your friend Trace. He seems nice."

She raised her eyebrows at me, then her face softened into a warm smile. "He's the greatest. We've been best friends since we were kids."

"Really?"  
>"Actually, I met him when I was six. His dad and my dad were good friends. They were both witches. My lightning hadn't come in yet. Neither did his powers."<p>

"So where was he when we met?"

Her eyes lowered to the ground. "Well when my mom... Um... When..." She sighed. Her eyes were filled with pain, and I could feel it radiating off her in overwhelming waves. She was hurting. There were other emotions, too. Bitterness. Hatred. Heartbreak. Rage.

"Sky, you don't have-"

"No, it's alright." Her voice was so soft-it didn't fit with the emotions I felt raging in her. "When I was nine, my birth mother-the Siren-gave me up. I was raised by demons from there, until I was fourteen. I never saw Trace again after my mother gave me up."

The feelings coming from her intensified, and her hair started crackling with white sparks. "Hey, hey. Relax. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, you're fine. I just... It's... Memories. Just bad memories."

"They can't all be bad. You've obviously reconnected with Trace."

She smiled. "Yeah. Last time I saw him I was nine. I talked to him on the phone a lot when I was sixteen, but then we stopped. Hadn't seen him since until now."'

"You must really care about him to have found him after all this time." I tried my hardest to keep the emotion out of my voice. She chuckled.

"Actually he found me."

"Just like now," A bodiless voice suddenly sounded very near us, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. But Sky...

Well she reached behind her, where the voice had come from, and wrapped her hand around something invisible, but solid. She took it and slammed it to the ground, pinning her knee a few inches below what her hand was wrapped around.

Trace appeared pinned beneath her. "Sky," he choked. "Jesus Christ, Skylar!"

She let go of her steel grip on his neck and knocked him in the head instead. "You idiot!" She hissed. "You _know _I scare easy! You should know better than to sneak up on me like that!"

Despite being pinned to the ground and gasping for breath, he managed a faint smile. "You know, you're really cute from this angle."

She snorted and rolled her eyes, finally standing and allowing him to move. As he chuckled, she reached down and pulled him up by the collar of his shirt. "Time to get serious. Whatcha got for me?"

"No one's around the block. There is a man standing behind one of the pillars near the bench just waiting. He looked kind of familiar... Anyway. Just him. There's not even civilians around. It's eerie."

"So we're free to use magic if we need to?"

He nodded. "We're good."

I took a deep breath. "Well then. Let's go."

We walked purposefully towards the stone bench. When we reached it, no one approached. "Which pillar?" I whispered to Trace. He pointed, and I turned toward it. "I know you're there. I'm staring right at the pillar you're behind."

A raspy, deep voice responded. It was unnatural and creepy. It sounded human... Yet, it was as if he was doing it on purpose. "First I want your word you won't attack. You have mine. I swear on my power."

I blinked. To swear on your power... That's a big thing. If you break a vow sworn on your power, your power diminishes. I guess this guy wasn't looking for a fight. "You have my word."

"And ours." Trace and Sky echoed.

The figure stepped out. He was tall, with dark brown hair sweeping carelessly over his forehead. His eyes were blue, his skin tanned but still light, and his face had a scar on it. It appeared to be fresh, as it was still an angry shade of red. It slashed from the corner of his right eye making a crescent to the just beneath his cheekbone.

All three of us froze. I gaped in shock.

"Madre de Diosa." Sky murmered.

"No way..." Trace started

I didn't say anything. Sky stepped toward the man. "Chris...?"

The man smiled at her. "It's been a long time. It's good to see you again, Skylar." He turned to me and chuckled. "You look so shocked. Surely you knew some paradox was going to happen eventually."

I just shook my head blankly. He-er me, or I... Ouch. My poor brain. He-me sighed. "I'm you. From the future."

As if I didn't have enough future problems already.

* * *

><p><strong>Didn't see that one coming, did you? Neither did I XD I have no idea how I'm going to make this work, you guys, so please bear with me and my nonsense! What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Do you have any suggestions as to where the story should go from here? Then click on that review button! I am open to any and all suggestions, but you MUST REVIEW! Pleease? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Until next time!<strong>


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